MAY 3 2015
The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.” – Churchill
Many people now are beginning to consider moving away from California, Nevada, Arizona and other drought-stricken regions. But where should they go? Many people now are beginning to consider moving away from ocean front as hurricanes, typhoons, weather in general will make it extremely hazardous to live near large water bodies. But where should they go? Many people now are beginning to consider moving away from fire-prone forested areas. But where should they go?
We are entering a period of serious consequences. The Global Warming of the atmosphere increases the number of times temperatures reach extreme levels which, in turn, evaporates more water from the oceans. It is from this hotter, wetter background that extreme weather events emerge. To make it worse heat waves and prolonged rainy periods, hurricanes and tornadoes will also occur more often anywhere and everywhere.
Tens of millions of people will be affected: Thirty Eight Million live in California alone and many other millions in Arizona with Phoenix and Nevada with Las Vegas, all situated in deserts, all artificially sustained by disappearing water. Perhaps California can turn to the ocean and desalinate the Pacific, but only at enormous cost in both money and pollution. Already monthly water bills there run into hundreds of dollars. Perhaps the BIG ONE will hit the West Coast as it did in 1906 near San Francisco which killed 3000 and destroyed almost the entire city. When that does, the earthquake will rupture the water supply system and deprive untold millions of one of life’s most needed resources.
And then there is the problem of rising oceans with the Cities of New York, Boston and the entire Florida Peninsula at risk. Add another 50 million there. And that is only in North America. The Netherlands is almost entirely below sea level.
We have entered a phase in the life of the world were anything is possible. Millions of people around the globe have already been on the move: forced by war, by drought, by desertification, by just too many people crowded out by tired soil, by relentless sunshine, by dry wells, by greedy landlords. James Lovelock, in his book The Revenge of Gaia writes: “We have driven the Earth to a crisis state from which it may never, on a human time scale, return to the lush and comfortable world we love and in which we grew up.”
How long can we still exist in a world where, in order to feed ourselves and to equip us with our toys and weapons we have already abused close to 50 percent of the Earth’s surface? Mother Theresa, that saintly woman, in 1988 said, “Why should we care about the Earth when our duty is to the poor and the sick among us. God will take care of the Earth.” That sounds pretty pious, and, yes, Jesus gives us that very same advice (see Matthew 25: 35-40). But that was at a time when the entire world had less than 300 million people, a number the earth could easily support. Now we have 25 times that many, and in the Earth God gave us – this Holy place- our greed is causing poverty and sickness, is fostering famine and desertification. That’s why our Christian priority must change: yes we must help the environmental refugees, now numbering in the millions, but our first commitment is to remedy the cause, is fighting Climate Change. This year 2015 will be a decisive one for the world. From every direction perils threaten: economic, ecological, environmental, and electoral.
While I am writing this tears spring in my eyes. My heart is heavy. This year we will see another UN sponsored meeting on Climate Change: COP 21. The “21” stands for the number of previous ‘climate’ meetings, held somewhere in the world. In the year 2000 I was present at the COP 11 in The Hague. It was possible for me to attend this 10 day long gathering because one of my brother lives in that beautiful city where 40 percent within its boundaries is mature forests. To me COP 21 (the acronym stands of Conference of the Parties) conveys the age of maturity. Having reached the age of ‘21’ makes persons totally liable for their actions, because it indicates a coming of age and ability to embrace responsibility. If the previous 20 meetings are any indication – they accomplished little or nothing – then Number 21 might well be the last one. Why meet when nothing concrete happens? The airlines benefit and hotels and the food caterers as thousands of delegates from 198 countries gather to debate, pose for the TV cameras for the benefit of the home crowd, and make empty promises. The situation boils down to dollars and cents: economic growth is required to pay for the trillions of debts contracted to pay for pensions and health benefits in an aging world. The basic problem is that infinite growth is not possible in our finite earth.
The world faces painful dilemmas. Carbon-based energy is the culprit. We as a civilization are all too much like somebody addicted to a drug that will kill us if continued and kill us also if suddenly withdrawn.
Here is what the French Foreign minister writes. He will chair the next UN COP 21 in Paris.
“The climate has always posed threats to security. Climate disruption upsets the full range of economic and social equilibrium — and it therefore threatens countries’ internal security.
“In France, for example, historians have shown that disastrous weather in 1788 caused the food crisis that contributed to the outbreak of the French Revolution. More recently, in 2005, Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc that led to disturbances in civil order and the deployment of the army on American soil.
“Beyond borders, climate change can stoke international conflict over the control of vital and increasingly scarce resources — particularly water. Examples of this include the tensions among Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over the Nile and its tributaries, between Israel and its neighbors over the Jordan River basin, and among Turkey, Syria and Iraq over the Euphrates.”
We know the consequences. We refuse to face them.
We are entering a period of consequences.
Matthew 24 in the New Testament warns us that the last of days will see (verse 7) “famines and earthquakes in various places. Verse 8:”all these are the beginning of birth pains,” signaling the onset of the New Creation.
This past week I saw a striking picture in the Guardian: A Buddha image amid the broken bricks from a collapsed temple in Nepal where thousands were killed. This for me was a symbol of the crumbling of religion everywhere.
I am old enough to remember the years leading up to World War II. Everybody knew that something ominous was opening up, but ‘appeasement’ was the word most in vogue. Chamberlain, returning from a trip to Hitler in his retreat somewhere in Bavaria uttered the famous words, ”Peace in our time.” That was in 1939. We know what happened: this was followed by a war which claimed 60 million lives.
Today we are in a similar situation, except that the stakes are immensely higher: the lives of the entire 7+ billion world population are at stake.
The earth is fighting back and, believe me, the earth will come out the winner. Again the Socrates dualism is rearing its devastating head. The earth is not pure dead matter. The Psalms repeatedly picture our world as a living entity: mountains leaping like calves, trees clapping their hands, hills jumping for joy. Romans 8 features the most human-like comparison: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (verse 22). I love that sentence.
One of the most telling Bible passages is Isaiah 24, “The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up and very few are left.”
What does it mean: the everlasting covenant?
It all goes back to the beginning, to Genesis 9. There are these marvelous words, “I now establish a covenant with you…. And with every living creature that was with you, the birds – now down by 50 percent – the livestock – now imprisoned as so much poisoned meat – all the wild animals – also down by half or more – every living creatures on earth – yes, fish, whales, polar bears, you name them.
A covenant is a treaty between people of equal status such as in marriage. In this creational covenant God treats us as equals, giving us charge of the Living Earth, but we have broken the covenant: that’s why matters are backfiring on us: Climate Change is the result, one of the many disasters we face.
In the five books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, God laid out how we as ‘owners’ of the world should live. Yes, I say ‘owners’. Psalm 115:16 explicitly says that “The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to humanity.” By granting full possession of the earth the Lord laid down a few ground rules. A small example found in Deuteronomy 20: 19, involving trees. “When you lay siege to a city… do not destroy its trees.” Trees are life. I simply love Revelation 22, which starts with the amazing words: “The leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations.” I have read somewhere that we, in North America, enjoying the highest standard of living, need 4500 trees each to provide us with oxygen. People elsewhere need much less. To combat Climate Change we need trees, and, I am sorry to say, my country Canada, has the highest tree-killing record in the world, all in the name of Economic Growth. Lack of trees causes erosion, which forces people to relocate. Just last month saw almost a Thousand Africans drowned in the Mediterranean Sea: looking for greener pastures.
The word ‘Mediterranean’ means ‘in the Center of the Earth’. The entire history of the world has taken place around the shores of that sea. History started there. Will it also end there? The drownings there are a symbol of a world that is disappearing. Europeans have exploited the African side of that region, have for the longest time seen its black population as inferior, equal to animals, and treated them as such and their lands as well. Now these people are desperate: we have brought them the Western religion, destroyed their tribal cohesion, disrupted their sustainable way of life and now they come knocking at Fortress Europe, asking for repayment which we are denying because in spite of its riches, the European Union with 500 million people has never been more indebted than today.
The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences.
Just as the fallen Buddha image in Nepal indicates, we have abandoned our Gods and have fallen for worthless idols that are out to destroy us. The Bible is pretty outspoken on this score. The Five books of Moses describe the Flood, because of the godlessness then. It tells the story of Sodom and Gomorra, destroyed because of its wickedness. It relates the disappearance of the 10 tribes of Israel, and later the exile of the 2 remaining tribes because they abandoned the Covenant. Both Matthew 24 and Revelation outline the ultimate destruction, already now evident everywhere.
The real climate that has to change is the climate in our hearts. That is something the COP 21 will not deal with. COP stands for the Conference of the Parties. All these parties, 198 of them, lack a unified view. The rich will want to retain their riches – the reason why Europe doesn’t want desperate Africans. The poor want to emulate the wasteful Western life. Stalemate is the predictable outcome. COP should stand for Christians Opposing Pollution. Polluting is the misuse of the name of the Lord, and, says Exodus 20: 7: “the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.”
Beware: we are entering the period of consequences.